Il Forteto - La Leopoldina

In the heart of a large rural estate, surrounded by the Florence hills of Val d'Arno, the two large cottages in isolated location have been restored. Casamaggio has met modern ecological requirements here and used most recent technologies of renewably energy for restoration*. Both estates, revived with a lot of taste and attention to historic detail, present themselves as extraordinary villas, surroun­­­­­ded by olive trees, vineyards and forests: an ideal place for family or cultural holidays.

The villas are located near San Donato in Collina , only 14 km south-east of Florence, and in ideal distance for day trips to the cities of Siena, San Gimignano, Arezzo, Lucca, Pisa, Assisi, Urbino ...

The relative proximity of the two villas permits on the one hand the common use of both villas by one large group, on the other hand the villas with their outdoor facilities and provisions (swimming pool, dining room, barbecue ....) are organised such that complete autonomy and privacy of each individual villa is guaranteed when used individually.

The ancient olive grove is the chosen setting for the garden: it is inspired by the culture of the LAND ART, a movement which has asserted itself since 1968. The general isea is not to place decorative art works in the landscape, rather to use the landscape itself as the means of their creation! The idea is to create a landscape in which garden and art are inextricably lnked by the use of natural materials such as soil, rock, organic media like branches, flowers, leaves... All the plants and flowers are part of the local specimens which do not require to be artificially watered, and thi is also consistent with the recommendations of the SAVE THE PLANET movement.

(*:.The entire electric energy is generated by solar energy and the air conditioning (heating and cooling system) is generated by means of geothermal energy. By means of the geothermal system, partly also the water is heated).